Squad Speculation Thread 2018/19

#661

Maybe a 7 out of 10. Alfie was a great piece of business but the 2 Dutch guys were a gamble that didn’t pay off. DeJong has shown glimpses of class but it was a big risk with his injury history and it’s come back to bite us. Jop has been a bit of a disaster but I still hold out some hope for him.

Tratt has turned out WAY better than I anticipated so kudos to the club for that signing but I feel DDS has been a bit of a disappointment so far.

To early on the rest but I have a feeling Reza will be a great signing.

So a real mixed bag

#662

Maybe an 8, but lower if we count the players we lost. I don’t hold SDJ against the club because it’s clear they took a calculated risk on a player who could have been dominant if kept fit and it didn’t work out.

#663

Yeah, I’m with you. I think the club underestimated the impact of clarkey leaving in regards to SDJ. Overall, recruitment has been very good.

#665

Coricas first season of recruitment has been a 6/10 for me. I cant really hold the Adrian or Bobo departures against him or the club and don’t think they should factor into the discussions.

I’m liking ALF a lot and Tratt looks like a great bargain pick up. Buhagiar looks like he may have been a great pick up before his injury and it also forced Corica to play in a different manor to how he probably intended.

Despite two good signings, there have been some big failures. Jop was absolutely woeful. De Jong injury plagued before we signed him and was a gamble that hasn’t worked out. De Jong was also invisible for large parts of the matches he did play in. De Silva has largely been a passenger. Both De Jong and De Silva were forced to largely play out wide which isn’t their strength. That’s also on Corica for recruiting so many players who occupy the same area of the pitch.

Players like Caceras and Austin are decent short-term, mid season signings who will provide cover and depth. Particularly during the ACL. They’re likely to be the best available local options for such roles. Reza looked decent, but just 65 minutes is too early to judge either way.

#666

5/10. Corica is a professional football coach who has been 2IC for a while. McFlynn has been involved in player recruitment for a while. They don’t get a free kick just because Arnie left . SJD was a foolish gamble given everything they knew of him. Even when fit, he’s incredibly wary of further injury and most often ineffectual. De Silva has had a number of seasons failing to live up to his early promise, so another gamble. Jop is a bog average slow player, when we needed a Jordy type to play off an ageing Wilkinson. Caceres seemed like a ridiculously superfluous , average player acquisition at the time. He hasn’t yet debunked that first impression. The short time he has been on the pitch has been unimpressive.
Austin has speed and may actually play himself into some form/touch…too early. Reza, again too early.
The number of injuries we’ve had also reflects on the quality of Clarke’s replacements.

#667

Wow. Some people really forget what it’s like to be a normal A-League club.

#668

We’re not normal… we’re Sydney!

#669

Its a solid 6.5-7/10.

I dont think you can really claim either of Jop or Siem were shockers. Siem was a calculated gamble and sure you can say hes been injured a lot but the club would have been crazy (and we’d probably be on here saying Corica lacked ambition) to turn down the opportunity to give a player of his pedigree an opportunity. Jop came in at 28 and having played a career in Holland also looked great on paper. Similarly De Jong was one of the most talented Aussie players to come through and the club thought he could get him back on track. None of these were poor signings and even the Sir Alex Fergusons, the Pep Guardiolas etc make great signings on paper that dont always work out. Theres no way to predict how a player settles.

Reza looks a great signing, Tratt exceeded expectations and Buhagier looks a shrew signing. Caceres provides depth and an actual option to drop/rotate Brillante or O’Neill if needed and Austin was a cheap option to give us a bit of pace up front. Similarly, Id give Corica points for giving Ivanovic minutes. Hes looking the most promising player to play for us since Gersbach.

Speaking of which Victory announced their ACL squad which means ours should be announced soon. Probably one of the Dutch players to miss out. Was always leaning to Siem but probably Jop.

#670

Obviously SDJ was a gamble that could’ve paid dividends if he’d been fit - but in a salary-capped league, where a good marquee player can be the difference between winning trophies and having an average season, I’m not sure it makes sense to take that much of a risk.

Admittedly, we’ll never know who the alternatives the club was looking at were - but if one was available, I’d certainly have preferred a solid marquee with a history of staying fit to one like Siem, who was something of a Hail Mary - it could’ve worked out amazingly, but it was always a long shot.

#671

Some pretty harsh markers with the benefit of hindsight. We are comparing to last year where we had an amazing run of injury-free games for our key players other than Rhyan. Also, the reason we can even afford marquees is that they all have a big risk - age, form, attitude or all of them. DeJong was playing himself back into full fitness and was hacked from behind while scoring, by one of the league’s hatchet men - couldve been any other striker in that situation. If he wasn’t chopped he might have played as many games as Honda - so was that a dud recruitment?

Jop has been average, but not a calamity - and Won’t be on as much $ as Jordi, so somewhat expected.

DDS everyone expected better from. Austin is a squaddie and a better option than Charles, so plus marks for that…

… and we’ve re-signed our best local players on long term deals, so that’s a big plus too

#672

Yeah I think thats a big testament to the faith of the playing group that Grant and O’Neill were happy to commit.

#673

So what are the rules on cap discounts/exemptions for youth and/or loyalty?
I assume we’d be on those for Grant, Calver. Anyone else? Will Brosque and Milos be on loyalty deals next season?

#674

Milos is a marquee. I dont think Brosque qualifies but Grant would

#675

God I am a dickhead.

#676

Is Milos a marquee going forward or will he be moved in-cap?

#677

https://www.a-league.com.au/salary-cap-system

Homegrown Players – A Club can spend up to a collective $200,000 on 4 Australian Players aged 23 or younger that have come through the Club’s youth system. Any payments to such Players above the $200,000 allowance are included in the Club’s Salary Cap

So that would be Grant, Calver, Ivanovic and Devlin. Take the bottom $200k off.

Loyalty Players – A Club can spend up to a collective $200,000 across any number of Players that have given 5 or more consecutive seasons of service to the Club.

So that would mean Brosque next season, and O’Neill and Milos the year after if, for example, Milos goes back in the cap. No-one else makes the 5 year cut yet.

Mature Age Rookie – A Club can register an Australian Player that is aged 21 or older who last played in an Australian competition (eg. National Premier Leagues) and has not played in a fully professional league for at least 18 months

I don’t think anyone counts here. Tratt wasn’t away from the HAL that long was he?

Scholarship Players – Each Club can contract up to 6 under 20 Australian Players on the national minimum wage. Any payments above the national minimum wage to these Players are included in the Club’s Salary Cap

Not sure how this one interacts with the “Homegrown Players” group. But the other group can include those over 20, so maybe Ivanovic and Devlin come in here. We have a few guys who were 20 at the start of the season, so do they fit in here? (e.g. Buhagiar)

#678

Grant?

#679

Good point. In my mind, he remains a youthful early 20s lad, and so I had him as “Homegrown”, but he’s definitely in the Loyalty group now.

#680

Reza was very high up the list, and I believe we narrowly missed out on Torres (his agent had made enquiries to schools in Sydney).

#681

hehe, yeah, he’s 27, so definitely not eligible for the Homegrown Players concession.

Great breakdown though.